Meng Model Air Carried Missiles & Bombs for Post War Jets 1:48

[Mike]

Air Carried Missiles & Bombs for Post War Jets

1:48 Meng Model Supplier Series

 

You can't have too many weapons in hand when you're building something relatively modern (post WWII) from the Allies with jet engines, as you can almost guarantee that at least some of the items you want to add to your load-out won't be in stock.  Most people keep any weapons they don't use for future reference, but sometimes that's not enough, and you have to resort to aftermarket.  The old Hasegawa weapons sets are long in the tooth now, and hard to find, and resin isn't suitable for everyone's skillset or pocket, which is why I guess Meng decided to round out their recent Supplier range with three sets of US weapons.  These are broken down between missiles of short range, missiles with long range, and guided bombs, all of which are in styrene, which will appeal to a wider audience due to everyone's familiarity with the medium and its reasonable cost.

 

Each set comes in a satin-finish Meng figure sized box, with a delightful end-opening box that everyone loves so much.  The front of the box shows diagrams of each item in the box, with construction diagrams on the back, and finally the painting and decaling details on the sides, called out in AK Interactive colour codes.

 

 

US Short-Range Air-to-Air Missiles(SPS-043)

 

 

This box contains a selection of short range missiles from the early Falcon to the increasingly capable Sidewinder that is used by so many countries today.  In the box you get the following:

 

4 x AIM-4C Falcon

4 x AIM-4F Falcon

4 x AIM-4G* Falcon

4 x AIM-4D* Falcon

4 x AIM-9B Sidewinder

4 x AIM-9E* Sidewinder

4 x AIM-9NP* Sidewinder

4 x AIM-9D* Sidewinder

4 x AIM-9M* Sidewinder

4 x AIM-9X* Sidewinder with adapter rail

 

Each missile body is a single part, with two fins from each set moulded-in, and the others as separate parts.  The weapons marked with an asterisk also have a clear seeker head part, and the AIM-9X had an additional exhaust part for added detail to this latest version.

 

 

 

 

The stencils for both missile types are included, and differ between variants, as do their colours.  The earlier AIM-4s have at least a portion of their bodies painted bright red, while the AIM-9s are all grey or white.

 

 

 

US Long/Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (SPS-044)

 

 

This set contains the larger missiles with greater range, which are intended to keep the enemy at arm's length and make dogfights a thing of the past.  The Sparrow, AMRAAM and the Phoenix missiles are all included, plus training,  ECM and instrumentation pods.  The box contains:

 

2 x ACMI Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation Pod

4 x AIM120B AMRAAM Missile

4 x AIM120C AMRAAM Missile

4 x AIM-7M Sparrow Missile

4 x AIM-7E Sparrow Missile

4 x AIM-54A Phoenix Missile

4 x AIM-54C Phoenix Missile

2 x AN/ALQ-188 training pod

2 x EML8222 Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) Pod

 

Again, the Sparrow and AMRAAM missile bodies are single parts with some fins moulded-in, and others as separate parts, plus small adapter rails.  The larger Phoenix missiles that were used solely on the F-14 Tomcat are supplied in halves, with a separate tail and two of the fins.  The ACMI pod is a single delicate part, while the others are build from separate halves with additional sensors added to the sides or ends.

 

 

 

 

Colours and stencils are copious, and detailed on the box sides, so remember not to throw them away.  The AIM-7M hasn't been given part numbers on the instructions, but by a process of deduction we can tell you that they are on sprue B.

 

 

 

US Satellite-Guided Bombs (SPS-045)

 

 

The final set has a raft of different smart bombs of varying sizes, plus the more recent Small Diameter Bombs that have become popular due to the reduced collateral damage from the smaller explosive yield.  A pair of laser targeting pods are also included, as follows:

 

2 x GBU-31-V1 JDAM with Mk.84 payload

2 x GBU-31-V3 JDAM with BLU-109 payload

2 x ANAAQ-33 LANTIRN targeting pod

2 x GBU-54 laser JDAM with Mk.82 payload

8 x GBU-53 precision-guided glide bomb

8 x GBU-39 precision-guided glide "bunker-buster" bomb

2 x BRU-61 that can carry 4 x GBU-53 or -39

 

The bombs all have two-part bodies, with separate fins and in the case of the GBU-39, separate winglets and tail unit.  The construction of the BRU-61 bomb carriers are correctly designated, but when shown mated with the bombs it is incorrectly called out as an AIM-54A.  It is also a little frustrating that there sufficient bombs to fill 4 racks, yet only two are included in the box.

 

 

 

 

As with the other sets, the painting and markings guide are shown on the sides, and some complex masking will be needed around the "shroud" that the larger GBUs wear.

 

Review sample courtesy of